Facebook music drumbeat getting louder

RootMusic, a San Francisco startup that helps artists like Rihanna, Katy Perry and Arcade Fire connect with their Facebook fans, received a new round of financing Wednesday amid new reports that the social network was close to launching its own music service.

RootMusic, which says it has about 32 million monthly active users for its BandPage app on Facebook, announced a $16 million round of financing led by GGV Capital.

The platform adds a page for fans to hear and share songs, watch video and view upcoming concert dates. The company launched in March 2010, but already more than 250,000 bands around the world now use BandPage and usage has increased ten fold since January 2011, said RootMusic CEO J Sider.

There have been various reports that Facebook was close to launching its own music service. On Tuesday, CNBC, Mashable and other publications reported that Facebook planned to launch its own music platform at its upcoming f8 developer conference in San Francisco on Sept. 22, with Spotify, MOG and Rdio as partners.

Facebook spokesman Larry Yu would not comment directly on those reports or what’s coming for f8, but said in a statement that “many of the most popular music services around the world are integrated with Facebook and we’re constantly talking to our partners about ways to improve these integrations.”

Sider said he viewed a potential Facebook music platform as complimentary to BandPage.

“If something like this would happen, it would raise awareness that as a fan, (Facebook’s) where I should go first to find information.

The Facebook music drumbeat may prove to be sour notes for former social networking rival Myspace, which has been trying to reposition itself as a destination for music. Indeed, RootMusic’s slogan entices musicians to “Make the Move to BandPage on Facebook.”